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This anticipated PC game puts the power to command an entire war for the Star Wars galaxy at your fingertips, with battles focused on action-packed combat rather than tedious resource gathering. Set a few years before the events of Episode IV A New Hope, LucasArts' new PC game lets players wage war on ground and in space, as well as experience the creation of the Rebel Alliance, the strengthening of the Empire and the beginnings of the Galactic Civil War.

Order yours now!

 

Star Wars: Empire at War Collector's Edition - PC

Star Wars: Empire at War - PC

Star Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force-Episode 55

Be sure to join us next week for the fifty-sixth episode of Star Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force. Then join us every week as we continue to follow the adventures of the Wookiee E'nac from the Star Wars Galaxies videogame in the form of Gamics!

"In order to do something like Episode I, II or III, I had to create worlds in ways that I couldn't do in the old fashion way," says Lucas. "I couldn't build sets that big, I couldn't have that many extras, I couldn't create that many costumes."

During some of the earliest interviews about this trilogy, Lucas had expressed that one of his greatest concerns about the future Star Wars films was expense. "It will be unbelievably expensive," he said at the 1989 opening of the Disney/MGM Studios, where he broke the news that Star Wars would return in the '90s. "And that's one of the things holding it up. If there was a way of doing them less expensively, it could make it easier to go ahead and do more. But there are just huge, huge amounts of money involved."

The decade that followed saw huge investments of time and creativity in digital experimentation. In 2005, Lucas reiterated the concern of what it would take to bring these new Star Wars epics on the screen using traditional methods. "Financially, I'm a little tiny company -- I'm not like these big studios here, and for me, doing a $100 million movie is a really big deal. That's as much money as I can pull together. I couldn't possibly produce a $300 million movie; it's just not possible for me to do that. So, I have to be able to create a big world for a very small price."

It began by creating big worlds for a small screen: namely, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Were it not for the early ventures in digital backlot, crowd replication, set extensions, and other visual tricks practiced in the critically acclaimed television series, the new Star Wars movies may not have happened. The other breakthrough was the commitment to leaving film behind and shooting entirely on HD video.

"We were designing cameras three years before Episode I, but we didn't get it finished for [principal photography]," says Lucas. "We did get it finished for shooting our delay unit, which is a two-week shoot we do a year after. We shot two weeks of it digitally with a real big, huge, funny prototype camera. It sort of looked like an old Technicolor camera with cables all over the place."

When it came time for Episode II, the digital cameras weren't finalized and delivered until just weeks before principal photography began. "It was real Beta-testing movie making," says Lucas. "We were experimenting; we hadn't quite done this before. We were learning as we went along and made Episode II. The great thing about Episode III is that I used the same crew, same cast, same equipment, same everything and we all knew what we were doing. It took me one movie to figure it out. And we pushed it much further because on the first film we had maybe 25% digital sets; the second movie, we had maybe 50% digital sets and in Episode III, I'd say there's 85% digital sets. We were able to push the limits of what we needed and it allows you a whole different kind of flexibility from what people were used to in making movies."

NEW CONTENTS AND FEATURES
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Added support in both Singleplayer and Multiplayer for additional maps.

Added support for the LCD screen on the Logitech G15 Gaming keyboard.

Added additional server-client functionality to increase the online experience.


RESOLVED ISSUES
---------------------------
Corrected functionality issues with Droidekas.

Adjusted the weapon animation speed based on how fast the player is moving.

Corrected an issue that caused the remote rockets awarded to heavy weapons class soldiers to become invisible.

Corrected an issue with the sky texture on Geonosis.

Resolved various stability issues associated with multiple hardware configurations.

Improved stability for computers using Dual-Core CPUs with NVIDIA GeForce 6 or GeForce 7 graphics cards. Please check the NVIDIA website for future driver updates which may resolve any existing issues.

Increased stability for both Singleplayer and Multiplayer portions of the game.

Corrected an issue that caused player icons in the mini-map to disappear.


MULTIPLAYER IMPROVEMENTS
--------------------------
Increased Multiplayer performance for LAN and Internet games.

Increased Multiplayer stability for LAN and Internet games.

Corrected an issue that caused a decrease in network performance when rolling starships in Space maps.

Increased stability between game sessions and map cycling.

Reduced the ability for players to SPAM text messages during online play.

Corrected an issue that caused hero characters to not appear in Multiplayer games.

BALANCING IMPROVEMENTS
--------------------------
Corrected an issue in Space maps with starships inside of hangars.

Corrected collision issues with the Ball Mode of Droidekas.


NOTE: Users hosting Star Wars Battlefront PC Dedicated Servers will need to download and install the updated version of the PC Dedicated server software for compatibility with the 1.1 version update.

FILE NOTE: The International update includes support for the United Kingdom, French, German, Spain, and Italian versions of the game.

I am currently taking orders for custom sketch cards. I will draw any character you wish from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Superheroes, etc. One character per card. Headshots are best. The sketch cards are standard size and will fit into any sleeve for collecting. They are done in Pen and Ink, Colored w/ Prismacolor Markers, Watercolor, etc. The custom sketch card will be mailed in a protective holder and can be shipped world wide.

You can choose to have them in black and white or colored. Black and White: $20.00, Color $30.00. Shipping is included in the price. You can pay by Personal Check or Money Order. Please contact me at info@kevingrahamart.com for mailing address to send payment to. Please indicate what character you wish to have drawn. Payment must be received before illustration will be started and mailed.

More information available on my site: http://www.kevingrahamart.com.

Thanks for your interest.

Kevin

I have posted his latest piece which can be found here. See other great artists over in the Featured Artists section. Enjoy!

Sadly, the overall presentation and setting is only half the story. Star Wars: Empire at War still has to succeed as a strategy game. On that level, Empire at War offers up more than a few interesting innovations as well as a handful of disappointments. The innovations and the authenticity of the Star Wars setting will likely encourage die-hard franchise fans to look past the weak points, at least for the short term. Hardcore strategy junkies who are looking for more than just a chance to relive their backyard battles won't stick with it nearly as long.

Where Galactic Battlegrounds merely asked the player to fight a series of battles, Empire at War lets the player take part in nearly every aspect of the Galactic Civil War, from managing production and strategically maneuvering forces around the galaxy all the way to leading bands of soldiers and spaceships into direct combat with the enemy. Empire at War manages to integrate and balance the two experiences very well. Determining just how to build up your forces and take over the galaxy is every bit as important (if not exactly thrilling) as squaring off against your enemy in a face-to-face battle.

If you're at all interested in this game, I'm sure you'll want to read the full review.

Industrial Light and Magic, the special effects firm behind the Star Wars films, have been honoured by President George Bush.

The firm, founded by George Lucas, was one of seven recipients of the National Medal of Technology.

ILM is nominated for two academy awards for War of the Worlds and The Chronicles of Narnia.

Lucas attended the ceremony at the White House's East Room to receive the medal from the president.

ILM has also worked on recent blockbusters Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the Chronicles of Riddick.

Star Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force-Episode 54

Be sure to check back later this week for the fifty-fifth episode of Star Wars Galaxies-Path to the Force. Then join us every week as we continue to follow the adventures of the Wookiee E'nac from the Star Wars Galaxies videogame in the form of Gamics!